Everything is Upside Down

Today, everything seems to be upside down.  Not just because I am dyslexic and look at things that way but because I think the world is just crazy right now.  Here at the homestead we have had a really frustrating couple of weeks.

I was trying to help my husband out with his crazy schedule, so I got him a gardener and a pool guy to take a little of the pressure off him. I know, I am such a great wife.  But within  the week the new gardener broke our sprinklers and the main water pipe coming into our house.  The new pool guy said our pool sweep was bad and we needed a new one at $$$$$, and my computer died.

So we come home last weekend from visiting our son and had no water. It is now Wednesday and we still have no water. That means no shower and, worst of all, no dying fabric.

Joe is soldering the water pipe out in the front yard as I write this. Joe found the pool problem - it was just a hole in the filter bag, an easy $35 to fix.  Someone is getting fired.

OK, before you get your violin out and play me a sad song, it really isn’t that bad compared to many of the years Joe and I had real struggles. I was trying to remind him of that last night as steam was shooting out of his ears trying to solder the pipe in the dark.  I have found that screaming at your husband to "calm down - you're going to have a heart attack" may not be the best advice.

How quickly we forget that not to long ago our lives where a constant struggle. One right after another. Sometimes 2 or 3 at a time.  Back then I wish it was just a broken water pipe but we all have them, things like serious health problems, family problems, finances, IRS, threat of being sued, yellow house incidents, drug addicted neighbor problems. OK, maybe yours are a little different.

Lets just say our faith in our fellow man is rapidly fading this week.

I guess it stared when I asked Joe to help me with my computer problems, which I seem to do all the time. I do have a direct connection to my own personal Geek Squad just a shout away.   He will patiently sit down and fix whatever mess I usually cause.   But this time it wasn’t me.  And it was really bad!

Wednesday, October 31:  Fabulous Fusible Flowers - Zinnia

While my sweet man was working on my computer he accidental knocked it to the floor.  And                                  that was the end.  Now fade to black if you’re inclined to act this scene out. 

It went downhill from there. So for the last 2 weeks I have had no emails, no calendar, no contacts. You get the picture?  And I forgot the best (worst) part - no photos.

Now the good part.  This amazing man has somehow fixed most of my computer by switching out the thing a ma-jig and downloading the widget and crossing the thing a de bob with the giz-mo and somehow I'm able to write this blog. I still cant take a shower but we are roughing it this week.

But my pictures are still a problem.  It seems that I like to take photos and there are hundreds of thousands in my computer.  That’s why I was having problem in the first place.  Photos take up lot of megs or midgets or something like that.  So when I went to write this blog there are no pictures of the Zinnia to show you for the upcoming class in Houston.  So I took more photos with my iPhone because my son still has my good camera (which I will never see again) and I downloaded the new pics and they all keep showing up upside down.  So I would rotate them and then they would still show up on the blog upside down.  Isn’t this fun?

So welcome to my world that is always in a state of crazy. And if you are moved to leave a comment that I should  have backed up my computer, I will come and get you. 

So here are the new pictures of the old Zinnia.  I am making up lots of different colored fabric kits for our classes so hopefully you can get the color you like. I will also make extra kits. Well, that is when we get the water back on.

For the class you will need to bring a yard of background fabric.  The yard is more than you will need but you may want to be creative after I show you some new ideas I have for this pattern. The color can be any color you would like your flower to be on.   The more choices you bring, the better. Black is always safe.  If you don’t like what you brought we can get more at lunch time. We are at the biggest quilt shop in the world!

HINT: In most applique classes you start with the background fabric, but not in my class. We will start with our flower petals first, then (about after lunch) add the best background color to the petals. We want our flower to pop off the page so I wait until you can see how it is developing to add the best background color. I will also give you some tips and tricks to help you pick the right colors.

Work on the petals first.

I just want you to know I will not leave you hanging in class.  I will help you all along the way. You won't be without any water, so to speak.  I want you to be successful and get what you paid for.

Then add the background fabric!

Then I will show you how to add other fabric colors that aren't in the pattern to add sparkle and highlights to your flower and makes it yours.

 Here I added some turquoise blue for sparkle on the leaves.

Thread Play on the back.

I will give you information in class on how to do the Renegade Thread Play to finish off your quilt when you get home.

Thanks to those of you who kept reading to the bottom of this blog.  I love this flower, even if the pictures want to be upside down.  If you have any questions about class or plumbing please email me at melbula@comcast.net.  I am here to help, even if I send you a picture that might be upside down.  Got to go, the real plumber just arrived.  Hooray!